1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic appliance and a power save mode management program to be executed by the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a game apparatus having a power save mode, and a power save mode management program to be executed by the game apparatus.
2. Description of the Background Art
In a portable electronic appliance running on an internal battery, e.g., a mobile phone terminal or a mobile information terminal, it has always been important to minimize power consumption in order to realize a operation duration. As a technique for minimizing power consumption, portable electronic appliances are typically equipped with a power save mode. For example, in a power save mode, supply of power to a display device may be stopped or the clock frequency for the CPU may be lowered when it is determined that no input has been made to the portable electronic appliance for a predetermined period of time, thereby reducing the power consumption of the overall portable electronic appliance. For the sake of users' convenience, a power save mode is typically cancelled in such a manner that, as soon as any input is made during the power save mode of the portable electronic appliance, the portable electronic appliance returns to a normal mode so as to be restored to a state which existed before the power save mode was entered.
Some non-portable type personal computers and the like also have a power save mode. As in the case of portable electronic appliances, in a power save mode, supply of power to a display device may be stopped or a screen saver may be displayed when it is determined that no input has been made for a predetermined period of time, and, as soon as any input is made during the power save mode, the personal computer or the like returns to a normal mode so as to be restored to a state which existed before the power save mode was entered.
However, there has been a difficulty in introducing a power save mode to a portable game apparatus. Firstly, due to its nature as a device for allowing a user to primarily play games thereon, a portable game apparatus is typically designed so that any operation buttons provided thereon have a profile which protrudes from the housing in order to facilitate operation by the user. Moreover, a portable game apparatus is likely to be carried around by a user in a bag or in a pocket. Therefore, if the above-described technique, where any input being made during a power save mode immediately results in the resumption of a game processing mode (i.e., a normal mode), is applied to a portable game apparatus, it might be possible for the game processing mode to be inadvertently resumed when any of the protruding operation buttons is pressed, since the portable game apparatus is likely to come into contact with surrounding objects as it is carried around by the user in a bag or a pocket. Furthermore, depending on the nature of the game, such an inadvertent resumption of the game processing mode during transportation may even allow the game to progress on its own from the state existing before the power save mode was entered, eventually to a game-over, before the user knows.
On the other hand, in order to prevent the portable game apparatus from inadvertently returning to the game processing mode during transportation in a power save mode, the portable game apparatus might be arranged so that the power save mode can only be cancelled based on a combination of a plurality of operation buttons. In this case, however, the user must remember the operation procedure concerning the plurality of operation buttons for canceling the power save mode. Hence, once the operation procedure is forgotten, it becomes impossible to return to the game processing mode. Moreover, in the case where the portable game apparatus is arranged so that the power save mode is canceled by simultaneously pressing a plurality of operation buttons, a user wondering why the portable game apparatus is not responsive to the pressing of a single operation button may be urged to turn the apparatus off.